Applemen sweep county CC

Dunnigan, Rigsby claim individual titles

October 3, 2012

MARTINSBURG - Martinsburg cross country runner David Sullivan termed it "bragging rights for the county" on Tuesday during the Berkeley County cross country championship.

Tuesday at a drizzly Poor House Farm Park, Musselman, Martinsburg and Hedgesville met to decide the best in the county in both boys and girls cross country.

Not only did the runners have to endure a treacherous course that featured a steep uphill climb and downhill slope and run through water twice, runners had to trek through quishy grass that shot up water when the runners raced through.

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Martinsburg, Musselman, Hedgesville Cross Country

As the clouds began to cover the mountains in the distance, you knew rain was coming. And at the end of the girls race, it began to rain, seemingly as Nia Dunnigan crossed the finish line in first place.

Musselman took home the win in both the boys and the girls team events.

Shane Rigsby and Dunnigan each crossed the line first for the Applemen. Both outran the second-place runner by at least 30 seconds.

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Shane Rigsby of Musselman runs through the water during the Berkeley County championships on Tuesday. (Journal photo by Ron Agnir)

The boys teams ran first. Rigsby was ahead for most of the race and finished with a time of 17 minutes, 51 seconds. Even though he had the best time of the day, he thought he could've done better.

"I wanted to be a little bit faster," Rigsby said. "But it was wet and rainy today, but that's still a good time."

Thanks to the day's rain, mud was a big factor in the uphill climb.

"The hill was all muddy and slick so that made it pretty hard," Rigsby said. "I tried to excel during the hill, and the mud was a factor."

Zachary Pollard of Hedgesville finished second in the boys race with a time of 18:29. Behind him in third and fourth were a pair of Musselman teammates, Ronald Stephens and Austin Jenner. They finished with times of 18:57 and 19:02, respectively. Fifth place went to Martinsburg's Vladimir Bauer (19:07).

As a team, Musselman finished with a winning total of 27 points. Hedgesville scored 32 points and Martinsburg 59.

Dunnigan, who finished with a time of 22:02, outraced teammate Heather Jenkins by 30 seconds. The two were in front the entire race and never looked back.

Hedgesville's Brittany Pollard came in third at a time of 22:42. Two Musselman teammates, Madelyn Trucks and Kayla Hoffmaster, rounded out the top five. Trucks ran the course in 23:06 and Hoffmaster finished just behind her at 23:06.